140 8½

[kinjitsu]

I love the actress who plays the hilariously self-obsessed actress - she so utterly believable...

You mean Barbara Steele?

[Michael]

You mean Barbara Steele?

Or Madeleine LeBeau the French actress.

A decade later, 8½ remains the greatest film I've ever seen. Take a look at this.

[Anthony]

I love that trailer on Google video.

[Guest]

I share Michael's enthusiasm. As much as I hate to choose anything as the best in any category, I really have to say that 8½ is my favorite film of all time. It is cinema in all its purity, glory and beauty. It's full of inventiveness and shows an artist putting 100% of himself onto the screen, without fear. As Gilliam says in the introduction, Fellini isn't afraid to put his ambiguous relationships with women on screen. Add to that the fluidity of the camerawork, the surreal mood, the life-affirming joy, the amazing ensemble performances, Nino Rota's finest score and so much more! I love 8½ with all my heart and will forever be thankful to Fellini for giving me (and all us fans) such a gift!

[Michael]

It's always difficult to come up with a top-ten list of films, at least for me but when people ask me "what's your favorite movie of all time?", 8½ is the first film that pops up in my mind every time.

Fellini isn't afraid to put his ambiguous relationships with women on screen

.
That's possibly the main reason why I love 8½ because so much of that is so true and it's also a beautiful celebration of women. The women are complex, rich and strong and I never grow tired of watching them ... and how wonderful it is to be Guido to be in the middle of all this. And him attempting to tame them is possibly the most funniest moment I've seen in all cinema.

[Tribe]

8½ is brilliant! For my money, Sandra Milo in 8½, and Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box, are the most gorgeous women ever, ever filmed.

Tribe

[Guest]

It's always difficult to come up with a top-ten list of films, at least for me but when people ask me "what's your favorite movie of all time?", 8½ is the first film that pops up in my mind every time.

Well, me too. Peter Harcourt once said that compiling a ten-best list is always very difficult, but the question of the one favorite film is easier to answer.

Fellini isn't afraid to put his ambiguous relationships with women on screen

That's possibly the main reason why I love 8½ because so much of that is so true and it's also a beautiful celebration of women. The women are complex, rich and strong and I never grow tired of watching them ... and how wonderful it is to be Guido to be in the middle of all this. And him attempting to tame them is possibly the most funniest moment I've seen in all cinema.

"A celebration of women", very well said. Fellini doesn't care what people think about him, what they say of his feelings, he simply pours his heart into every frame of his films (particularly 8½) and what comes out is truth and beauty, or to use one word for it, art. And let's not forget that art is first and foremost self expression. Therefore Fellini is one of the greatest artists who ever lived.

For my money, Sandra Milo in 8½, and Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box, are the most gorgeous women ever, ever filmed.

My candidate would be my own personal Goddess, Claudia Cardinale, in both 8½ and The Leopard, followed by Nico in Chelsea Girls and La Cicatrice Interieure, Edie Sedgwick in Beauty #2, Brigitte Bardot in Le Mépris, Anouk Aimee in Lola, 8½ and La dolce vita.

[Michael]

My candidate would be my own personal Goddess, Claudia Cardinale, in both "8½" and "The Leopard".

Do rent Zurlini's Girl With a Suitcase if you haven't seen it yet. The film is truly Cardinale's finest moment. The scene in which Cardinale got drunk on the beach really made me want to join her.

Solveig Dommartin was filmed luxuriously in Wings of Desire.

And what about Anna Karina in Vivre sa vie?

My personal goddesses: Anna Magnani, Bette Davis and Little Edie. God, how gay is that?

Anouk Aimee in "Lola"

Oh how I adore Aimee in Lola. I wonder if Fassbinder watched this film religiously.

[Guest]

My candidate would be my own personal Goddess, Claudia Cardinale, in both "8½" and "The Leopard".

Do rent Zurlini's Girl With a Suitcase if you haven't seen it yet. The film is truly Cardinale's finest moment. The scene in which Cardinale got drunk on the beach really made me want to join her.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm in love with Cardinale, it's incurable.

My personal goddesses: Anna Magnani, Bette Davis and Little Edie. God, how gay is that?

Ah, Magnani, great actress! I LOVE her performance in Pasolini's Mamma Roma.

[denti alligator]

Quick AR question. This is about 1.75:1, meaning it's not nearly as wide as the 1.85 stated on the box, nor is it as wide as the 1.78 displays that are common. Has this been cropped? Should it be 1.85 or 1.66? Why is it in between?

[orlik]

And just to second it, Cardinale is certainly a beauty in 8½. I have a soft spot for Guido's wife and sister-in-law, though.

I think a greater dilemma for Guido than his film would be having to choose between Sandra Milo, Anouk Aimee, Claudia Cardinale...in addition to the prospect of Barbara Steele at her most luscious and fresh-faced.

Personally I'd plump for Sandra Milo, Federico's own squeeze...My God, her performance in Juliet of the Spirits is such a massive tease.

[denti alligator]

So no one cares that this is presented in a non-existent AR? Does no one bitch about this title because it still looks fine? Anyone think the cropping (left and right?) gets in the way?

[Gigi M.]

So no one cares that this is presented in a non-existent AR? Does no one bitch about this title because it still looks fine? Anyone think the cropping (left and right?) gets in the way?

I see little black bars on top and bottom of my screen when projected with my Optoma projector. I'd check my TV to see if doing some overscanning.

[denti alligator]

So no one cares that this is presented in a non-existent AR? Does no one bitch about this title because it still looks fine? Anyone think the cropping (left and right?) gets in the way?

I see little black bars on top and bottom of my screen when projected with my Optoma projector. I'd check my TV to see if doing some overscanning.

I don't need to. This image is 795 x 400 pixels, which is 1.76:1 AR. Ok, so it's closer to 1.78 than I estimated, but it's still pretty far from 1.85.

Even Gary at DVDBeaver lists it as "original aspect ratio 1.78" !

[Le Samouraï]

The OAR might very well be 1.75:1. Although not very common there has been quite a number of films released in that aspect ratio. Disney used it frequently earlier. There has never been a theatrical aspect ratio of 1.78:1.

[Jeff]

I know I must be missing something here, because members of this forum are generally well-versed in the concept of soft-matting, so if I'm completely off-base and being pedantic, just ignore me.

The film was shot with spherical lenses at 1.37, and would have been matted to 1.66 in Europe and 1.85 in the U.S. While it was certainly never theatrically projected from celluloid at 1.7anything, 1.78 seems like a reasonable compromise between the U.S. and European ratios. Either way, nothing is getting "cropped," the mattes are just opened slightly more or less than you may have seen it theatrically, depending on what side of the Atlantic you're on.

[denti alligator]

There has never been a theatrical aspect ratio of 1.78:1.

Can someone clear this up?

[Jeff]

I shouldn't say that 1.7? is never used. Occasionally a 1.75 matte was used in Europe instead of a 1.66, but it was pretty uncommon and it's still just a matte. 1.78 is a television ratio.

[Le Samouraï]

I shouldn't say that 1.7? is never used. Occasionally a 1.75 matte was used in Europe instead of a 1.66, but it was pretty uncommon and it's still just a matte. 1.78 is a television ratio.

1.75:1 was a popular matte in the UK for a time, AFAIK up into the 1980's. The American Widescreen Museum also notes that 1.75:1 was frequently used by MGM in the early days of widescreen.

As for 1.78:1, yeah, it's a video/ tv ratio made as a compromise between the most common American and European standards.

[Magic Hate Ball]

I'm horrified and ashamed to admit this, but I don't get 8½. I tried to watch it once, but then it was just so dull I turned it off at about the point where his wife or lover or whoever it is wears the plush hat in the restaurant and washes her hands in the open bathroom. The next time I watched it I only got to the scene where they're walking up the huge frame for the rocket and turned it off. I just couldn't get into it. It's like me and Godfather II. It's just not compelling at all. I couldn't give less of a shit about the characters if I tried. Now I'm about to send it back to Netflix. Any advice on trying to get into it? I just couldn't stop glancing over at the clock, shifting in my seat, waiting for it to be over...

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Any advice on trying to get into it?.

Commentary.

[Napier]

Any advice on trying to get into it? I just couldn't stop glancing over at the clock, shifting in my seat, waiting for it to be over...

8½ is probably my favorite film in the collection. The first time I saw it I was totally enraptured,and have been every other time I have seen it. I do not know what to tell you if you can't get into it. Maybe made for television movies are more your speed. Oh yeah, they are showing movies on comedy central now. If you are not totally into this film by the time Guido takes his shades off and looks into the mirror, and Nino Rota's score for this scene starts, I don't know whether to pity you or tell you to give it one more shot.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

8½ is probably my favorite film in the collection. The first time I saw it I was totally enraptured,and have been every other time I have seen it. I do not know what to tell you if you can't get into it. Maybe made for television movies are more your speed. Oh yeah, they are showing movies on comedy central now. If you are not totally into this film by the time Guido takes his shades off and looks into the mirror, and Nino Rota's score for this scene starts, I don't know whether to pity you or tell you to give it one more shot.

No need to be rude just because the man didn't like your favorite movie. It's one of my favorite but the man didn't insult me personally. It's all a matter of taste, and he didn't like it.

To tell the truth, this was my first Criterion, and it was actually a gift. My brother bought it for me, who knew it more for the score than for the movie itself. On my first viewing, I honestly feel asleep, I still remember at what scene too, when they go to the baths. I was watching it, and the whole time I was thinking "What the hell is going on?" (I was also 15 at the time, and my movie tastes weren't as fully developed yet). I felt bad about not seeing the whole movie (no matter how bad a movie is, I stick to it, usually) so I rewatched it the next day.

This time things began clicking with me and making more sense. I heard the commentary on the disc, and finally saw the movie again. This time it all made sense. His wife, the mistress, he feelings, his memories, it all made sense, and it wa so much for what is essentially only 2 hours of celluloid.

Fellini is my favorite director, and I have to thank this movie for doing it all, and for introducing me to the Criterion and to start taking movies more seriously. Before, I never thought about the way movies were written, acted, planned out, and thought as of art until I saw this film.

I always showed an interest in movies an how they worked, and by the time I was 15, most of the movies I would watch were either a bit more mainstream, or I used to watch television (which I hate, but as a kid around the age of 10, I use to watch IFC a lot as the movies were always diffrent than what I would usually see anywhere else). This was the movie that introduced me to the whole world of cinema, and what it held for me, and what a perfect start.

[Lemmy Caution]

Any advice on trying to get into it?

Try watching Woody Allen's Stardust Memories?

[Cold Bishop]

Any advice on trying to get into it?

Try watching the whole thing for starters....